


Finding You Was So Hard

by zniamkisses



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Age Play, M/M, Other, i'll add more later idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-01 23:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2791580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zniamkisses/pseuds/zniamkisses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall doesn't know what he wants until he falls right into him. AU Narry age play</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: zniamkisses  
> wattpad: thewhimsical

"Niall!" Louis yelled, pounding on the door to Niall’s flat.  
Niall sat up on his bed, eyes darting around the room quickly as he spit out the dummy in his mouth and shoved it under the pillow. He brought the blanket that was tangled around his legs up to his chin self-consciously. When he saw that Louis wasn’t in the room, he relaxed slightly, but still stumbled out of bed, wrestling to pull some pants on over the nappy he was wearing.   
When Louis still didn’t get a response from Niall, he beat on the door again. “Niall, I know you’re home. Don’t make me pick the lock,” Louis threatened.   
Niall rolled his eyes at his best friend. He knew that Louis had no knowledge of picking locks. Niall scanned his room and then the rest of the flat for any suspicious items and sighed in relief when he saw that there were none. He quickly made his way to the door before Louis beat it down; Now that was something he probably could do.   
When Niall finally opened the door, Louis gave him an agitated look. “What the hell, mate? What’d you hide your spare key somewhere else for?”  
"To keep you from barging in all the time," Niall shrugged, closing the door as Louis pushed past him. His heart was still beating rather quickly from the panic of thinking Louis had found out.   
"I should be offended," Louis said, falling onto Niall’s couch.   
"Last time you came in my house when I wasn’t home you ate all my food," Niall replied flippantly. "Decided not to make the mistake again."  
And it was true; Last time, Louis had eaten all of the food that he’d just bought at the grocery the day before. After all, Niall was just a broke university student living off of the allowance his parents sent him monthly. He supposed he shouldn’t complain, though, since his parents were paying for his schooling, his flat, and almost everything else.   
Louis wasn’t much worse off. He was at Uni on a football scholarship, so most things on campus were paid for. And of course he could get his own food, but raiding Niall’s pantry was easier.  
"Yeah, alright, I’ll find it soon enough, Horan," Louis said, picking up the TV remote and flipping through the channels. "You going for pizza with the lads tonight?" Louis asked after a second, apparently already over getting locked out of Niall’s flat.   
"Always do," Niall replied easily. Every Friday night he and his three friends, Louis and Liam and Zayn, went out for pizza. They’d all been mates since kindergarten and also happened to go to the same university. Although they each had different majors and schedules, they each set aside Friday nights for getting together.  
Niall slowly walked toward where Louis had draped himself on the couch, trying to gauge his range of movement and keep and noise the nappy might have made silent. He wasn’t usually brave enough to wear a nappy around his mates, even Louis, let alone out in public, but lately he’d been a little less wary of being found out about. Tonight was the first night he was going to go out in a nappy, and even though he was just going out for pizza with a few of his best mates, Niall couldn’t help but feel nervous that something would go wrong. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but Niall was naturally very sensitive, and he wished he had someone reassure him. He’d always wondered what it would be like to have a “Daddy,” but for some reason he could never see himself trusting anyone enough.   
"Why are you walking like that?" Louis asked, pulling Niall out of his thoughts and sitting up to give him a weird look.  
"My foot’s just asleep," Niall said quickly.   
Louis eyed him suspiciously for a few moments before letting it go.   
"I’m just going to go change," Niall said, nearly running down the hallway to his room. He knew it was irrational to be so shaken up; it wasn’t like Louis was going to think anything of it.   
Niall quickly dug through his closet to find a pair of his baggier jeans and a tshirt. He threw them on and decided to put the rest of his…things away in the box at the back of his closet. He remembered the dummy under his pillow and looked at it longingly before putting it in the box too.   
"Are you ready, Lou?" Niall asked as he walked out of his room and down the hall, fixing his hair as he went.   
"Yeah, just waiting for you," Louis said, turning off the TV.   
With that, they both walked out to Louis’ car and drove to their usual pizza place. They made comfortable small talk on the way, occasionally telling a story about something that had happened over the week. By the time they got to the pizza place, Zayn and Liam were already there. Louis and Niall slid into the opposite side of the booth that the other two were already at.   
At first, Niall looked around nervously and shifted awkwardly feeling like everyone was staring at him, like everyone knew he was wearing a diaper. After a few minutes, Niall began to relax and get into the conversation.   
"You alright, Niall?" Liam asked, pausing the story he was telling. "You look a little tense."   
"What? Oh, no, I’m fine. Just a little tired," Niall said and then cringed at what a bad excuse that was.   
Zayn and Liam both gave him a weird look while Louis shrugged it off, but Niall was saved when a large group of loud people came into the restaurant. Everyone’s attention was immediately pulled to the commotion, and Niall’s strange behaviors were forgotten for a moment. Niall sighed and sat back in the booth.   
"They’re a rowdy bunch," Zayn said. The rest of them mumbled their agreements as the pizza they ordered finally arrived and was set on the table in front of them. They all dug into the food and had a good time until a few of the people from the "rowdy bunch" were suddenly becoming Louis over.   
"Hey, I know them!" Louis said as if people he didn’t know would call him over to their table. "I’m gonna go say hi, be right back," he said, sliding out of the booth.   
Niall watched him go and greet a few of the boys before taking the opportunity to excuse himself to the bathroom. Niall was trying to make it to the bathroom unnoticed, but apparently Louis had other plans.   
"Niall!" Louis called out, waving animatedly at him. "Come meet Harry," he said.   
Niall looked over toward the person Louis was apparently referencing. His eyes widened at the tall boy with curly hair. Niall’s eyes flicked between where Louis and the other boy were standing and the direction to the bathroom nervously. He bit his lip before deciding the bathroom could wait. Besides, it would only take a second to meet this Harry kid and leave, right?


	2. Chapter Two

Niall hesitantly made his way over to where Louis and Harry were standing. When he got to them, they were both laughing about something. He took a few more steps to get closer to them and tripped over someone’s chair. He stumbled forward, and the next thing he knew, he was on top of Harry. Harry fell back onto the floor with an unexpected grunt, catching Niall as they both fell. Niall’s eyes widened in shock as he scrambled to stand up. It was just his luck that he would fall on this person he was trying to make a good first impression on.

Harry was shocked by the fall, but what he was even more confused by was the strange padding he had felt under Niall’s pants when he caught him. He ignored it the first time, but when he touched it again when Niall was trying to stand, he began to wonder what exactly it was. Harry watched as Niall finally got to his feet. Niall’s face turned cherry red, and he began to babble apologies as Louis helped Harry up from the ground.

“I’m so sorry! I’m not usually so clumsy, and I just-’’ Niall rushed out, his throat tightening and tears pricking in his eyes as he realized what a fool he had made of himself.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Harry cut him off. “Niall, right?” Harry confirmed. Niall nodded once. “It’s really fine, mate. I’m not hurt; it’s no big deal.” Harry smiled reassuringly at Niall, feeling the overwhelming urge to hug him or something. He shook it off because that would be weird. Weirder than when Niall fell on him he supposed.

Niall took a deep breath and nodded. They both turned their heads when they heard Louis laughing. Harry gave Louis a dirty look as to say that he wasn’t helping the fact that Niall was clearly upset and embarrassed about what had happened.

“Oh, lighten up! You gotta admit, that was so funny! Harry, your face was priceless!” Louis laughed.

“Right,” Niall said, already averting his eyes. “I’m going to go. It was nice meeting you, Harry.”

“You too,” Harry said, smiling at him and trying to catch Niall’s eye. “I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Niall nodded before quickly turning and heading toward the bathroom. He almost started crying when he got there and realized that at some point he’d wet his nappy.

“No, no, no,” Niall whimpered, running his fingers through his hair. He only then realized that Harry had probably felt his nappy. And what if he wet himself while he was on top of Harry? He also hadn’t brought a spare nappy, so he was going to have to be in the soiled one until he finally convinced Louis to take him home. Everything seemed to be going downhill in such a short time, and the stress was starting to get to Niall. He tried his hardest to keep the tears from falling, but once one fell, they all started to. He took some deep breaths to calm himself down, but not before he heard the bathroom door open. Niall held his breath to hide to whoever it was that he was crying.

“Niall?” Harry called hesitantly as he stepped into the bathroom. “Are you alright?”

Niall panicked a little bit, recognizing Harry’s voice. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes, praying that Harry wouldn’t notice he’d been crying.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Niall said back.

“Okay…” Harry said. “I just wanted to make sure. You seemed a little upset. And you’ve been in here a while.”

“Right, yeah, I’m okay,” Niall said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to open the front camera so that he could make sure his eyes weren’t red from crying. He decided he was safe and flushed the toilet on his way out of the stall to make it look less obvious.

“Have you been crying?” Harry asked as soon as he saw Niall. Niall’s face fell. Was it really that obvious? He thought he looked mostly normal. “Shit, no, you don’t have to answer that. Sorry I keep asking questions. I know I don’t know you very well and all, but I was worried about you. Sorry if I’m overstepping or anything, it’s just what I do I guess.” Harry said seemingly without stopping to breathe.

“Okay,” Niall said slowly. “Well, I’m really fine. Promise.”

“Alright,” Harry said, turning to leave. “Can I give you my number? Or you give me yours?”

“We can type them into each other’s phones?” Niall suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” Harry smiled, handing his phone over to Niall as Niall did the same. They both typed their numbers in before handing the phones back to each other.

“I’ll talk to you later, then,” Harry said, opening the door for Niall.

“Yeah, thanks,” Niall said, smiling before he walked back over to his friends.

Niall walked and sat down a little awkwardly, trying to ignore the heavy nappy between his legs. He sat down slowly next to Louis where all of his friends were staring at him.

“You okay?” Liam asked as soon as he was seated.

“Yes, I’m fine! Why does everyone keep asking!” Niall exclaimed.

They all looked at him strangely for a moment before Louis said, “Okay, but boys, did you see that? He just fell on Harry! Priceless,” Louis said, apparently still finding humor in Niall’s clumsiness.

“Yes, we saw, Louis,” Zayn said, rolling his eyes before going back to his pizza.

“Who’s turn is it to pay tonight?” Liam asked, already pulling out his wallet anyway for the tip.

“Uh, Louis’ I think” Zayn said.

“No! I paid last week, Malik. Nice try, though. It’s Niall’s turn,” Louis said indignantly.

Niall huffed, but pulled out his wallet anyway. “Fine, but are you almost ready?” Niall asked Louis. “I’m having fun and all, but I’m really tired.”

“Yes, Niall. I know the baby needs his sleep,” Louis said kiddingly, reaching out to ruffle Niall’s hair. Even though he was joking, Niall’s cheeks still burned at his comment. Niall looked down at his phone awkwardly, waiting for the blush in his face to go away. Once the bill came, Niall paid it and waited impatiently for the waiter to return his card. As soon as he did, Louis and Niall said goodbye to Liam and Zayn. Niall felt bad for leaving their get together early, but he knew they’d be doing the same thing a week later.

“So what happened with Harry?” Louis asked as he drove out of the parking lot.

Niall shrugged before realizing Louis wasn’t looking at him. “He just came to see if I was alright I guess.”

“I see,” Louis said in a way that made Niall think he really didn’t. “He’s a nice guy,” Louis commented. “Known him forever.”

“He seemed really nice,” Niall said, and for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, he blushed over nothing.

Louis raised his eyebrow at Niall curiously, catching Niall’s eye before he turned his head to look out the window. Niall let his mind wander to how concerned Harry had been for his well-being. No one had been so genuinely worried about him probably since he left home. Especially over something that really wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Can I just crash at your place?” Louis asked, pulling Niall from his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Niall said as Louis parked the car.

Niall plugged his phone in next to his bed, just waiting to hear from Harry again. Something in him made him wish things would have been perfect tonight, but he couldn’t help but think that maybe the imperfections were worth it.


	3. Chapter Three

In the days following Niall and Harry’s first meeting, they had texted each other a total of five times. Harry always initiated the conversations, and even though he wasn’t saying anything strange as it was mostly just getting-to-know-you talk, it still made Niall all jittery. He liked Harry a lot more that he would ever be willing to admit to Louis. It wasn’t even an attraction to Harry necessarily (not that Harry wasn’t attractive because he definitely was). But every time they’d talked, Harry was so sweet and gentle and protective, even if it was through a text. Niall couldn’t imagine how he’d be in person on a daily basis.

Also as the days passed, Louis slowly dropped the joke about Niall falling on top of Harry. Niall didn’t know if it was because he forgot or didn’t think it was funny anymore or saw that Niall was unamused or a mix of all three, but any way, Niall was relieved that Louis had seemed to finally let it go. Of course, though, with Louis, it was never a matter of simply just letting something go.

“So I invited Harry over for dinner tomorrow,” Louis said after letting himself into Niall’s apartment and laying on his couch like he lived there himself.

“To my place?” Niall asked, looking appalled as he looked around his trashed apartment.

“Yeah, of course. How else would I leave you two alone?” Louis asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Leave us alone?” Niall squeaked. “I hardly know him.”

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit, Niall,” Louis said, waving him off. “I know you two talk. It’s cute, really.”

“Louis, this place is a mess,” Niall started to whine, accepting the fact that Louis in all of his stubbornness was not giving in on the matter.

“Who cares?” Louis said with a shrug, flipping on the T.V.

“I care!” Niall said, stepping in front of the T.V. “This is the first time we’re really going to…you know, be together, and my apartment is trashed.”

“Fine,” Louis sighed. “I’ll have Liam come help you.”

Niall gawked at him. “Or you could just help me. Since you’re the one that invited Harry without my knowledge and all.”

“Niall, you’re making this so difficult,” Louis groaned. Niall put his best pout on his face and looked at Louis from under his eyelashes in a last ditch effort to get Louis to do what he should do without Niall begging him. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. I’ll help. Just don’t make that face, you looks like someone just ran over your puppy.”

“Thank you, Lou,” Niall said sweetly, hugging around his neck.

“Yeah, sure,” Louis mumbled, going back to staring at the T.V.

 

The next day came faster than Niall had hoped. After Louis had reluctantly stayed to help Niall clean up the apartment, he’d grumbled about it already being 8:00 and if he took a taxi home he might be abducted and then Niall would feel personally responsible for the rest of his life, Niall had finally just relented and told Louis to sleep on the couch. So, Louis ended up staying at Niall’s place for the night and the entire next day. In times like those, Niall would still continue his nightly routine of wearing a nappy and having a dummy, but he would cut the bottle out of the equation and lock the door because who could ever tell when Louis was going to just barge in unannounced. Even Niall, who had known Louis since they were both in, well, diapers, couldn’t predict when Louis was going to spaz, so he was just prepared at all times.

Now it was dinner time the next day, and Niall was running around like a crazy person trying to get dinner done. He was no cook, he never had been. He hated cooking, and he wasn’t any good at it, and it stressed him out that Harry’s second impression of him could be bad as well. He was still annoyed with Louis over him just throwing it on Niall and only giving him 24 hours to come up with something edible. Louis was still sat on the couch in the front room like the lazy ass he was. He had severe bed head, but he’d at least gotten up and changed into some of Niall’s clothes.

Niall froze over the food he was stirring when the he heard the doorbell. He looked around the room frantically before smoothing out his clothes and hair and going to answer the door. He immediately regretted just throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, because just like the last time Niall saw him, Harry looked perfect. He was really a little intimidating when Niall thought about it. Niall wasn’t the shortest person he knew by any means, but next to Harry he felt like a midget. He looked up and stared into Harry’s kind eyes like a deer in headlights before Harry addressed him.

“Can I come in?” he asked, smiling at Niall.

Niall blushed before muttering a “yes,” and stepping aside to allow Harry to slide in.

“Hey, Harry, mate,” Louis shouted from the couch.

“Hey,” Harry waved back.

“So, uh,” Niall started awkwardly, “dinner is almost done.” He avoided Harry’s eyes, feeling uncomfortable.

“Alright,” Harry said. “Do you need some help with anything?”

“Maybe?” Niall said, unsure of himself.

“Just tell me what to do,” Harry smiled at him again. Niall just nodded and let the way to his small kitchen. As soon as they walked in, Niall noticed that the oven was smoking. He froze again before running to open the door to the oven.

“No,” Niall said to himself. “This isn’t happening,” he said as he used his arms to fan the smoke away.

The next thing he knew, Harry was gently pushing him back and grabbing the oven mitts in his hands to take out the thoroughly burnt chicken. Harry was entirely too calm about the entire situation, putting the “food” on the stovetop and fanning at it a little more before stepping back and allowing Niall to take over again.

“Shit, no,” Niall whined to himself, tugging on his hair. “I swear the directions said 350 degrees,” Niall kept talking to himself, his voice becoming strained as he began to get upset. He couldn’t believe that he’d once again embarrassed himself in front of Harry. He also couldn’t help but think of all of the work he’d put into fixing dinner, and now here it was, ruined. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice Harry coming up closer behind him.

“Niall,” he called softly, wiping a tear from one side of his face.

“Sorry,” Niall choked out, trying to get ahold of himself. “I thought it was fine.”

“I’m not worried about the food,” Harry said, leaning over to get the other tears. He gently tugged at Niall to get him to move away from the burnt food. “It’s not a big deal at all,” Harry assured him, and for some reason, Niall believed him. He blinked a few times before nodding and looking away in embarrassment. “How about we order a pizza?” Harry grinned.

“That’s fine,” Niall mumbled. It was silent for a moment, and Harry was about to reach for his phone to call the pizza place when Niall said, “I don’t always cry so much, I promise. I just, I don’t know. But it’s weird, and I’m sorry you have to deal with me being a baby.” Niall’s face immediately flushed as he realized what he’d just said.

“I understand,” Harry said kindly. “Now, what do you like on your pizza?”

 

After they’d all sat around the table to eat their fancy meal of pepperoni and sausage pizza, Louis had left with some lame excuse about feeding his cat. Niall rolled his eyes as his best friend left because they all knew Louis didn’t actually have a cat. Harry helped Niall do the dishes and clean up the kitchen before going to look through Niall’s movies. Niall took the opportunity to finally escape and change his nappy that had been wet for some time now.

He quietly snuck into the bathroom and stripped off his pants to make it all easier. He got under the sink to get out a clean nappy, wipes, and baby powder to help the rash that was probably starting to form. Everything was going as usual until it didn’t. Because apparently nothing in Niall’s life went as planned.

“Oh my god,” Niall heard Harry say from behind him as he bent over to pull on his pants.

And all Niall could do was close his eyes and pray that this wasn’t actually happening.


	4. Chapter Four

Please don’t let this be happening. Please don’t let this be happening. Please, please, please, God, don’t let this be happening.

Niall had his eyes screwed shut as he continued to pray that his potential, well, whatever Harry was, wasn’t seeing his deepest secret right now.

“Oh my god,” Harry repeated. “Niall, I-”

“I can explain?” Niall offered weakly, his breathing already starting to accelerate.

“I’m just going to,” Harry started, but Niall cut him off.

“No, please don’t go. I’m sorry,” Niall said, tears rushing to his eyes.

“Go wait for you in the living room,” Harry finished slowly. He turned around with one last worried glance at Niall and walked to the living room.

Niall nodded quickly and harshly wiped at the tears that were now coming down his face. He threw his diaper items under the sink, not paying attention to where they landed. Then, he sat down on the closed toilet lid and put his face in his hands. His breaths were coming shallowly, and he had to keep reminding himself that Harry hadn’t left yet, not everything was ruined yet.

He finally stood up to face reality and reluctantly went to the front room. He sat down silently on the opposite end of the couch from where Harry was. Harry frowned, and scooted himself so that he was sitting next to Niall.

“Can we talk?” Harry asked him quietly.

“You can leave, I’m sorry,” Niall said, looking down at his lap and twisting his fingers nervously.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t know where you went, and I was looking for the bathroom, and I should’ve knocked. I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault,” Harry said gently. “And besides, it’s none of my business.”

“God, you’re so nice,” Niall muttered, still looking down and wiping another tear away.

It was silent for a little while before Harry abruptly said, “So, like, is this something you’re into?”

Niall looked up at him in surprise before blushing and looking back down. “I mean, yeah, I guess.”

“What is it exactly?” Harry asked. “I’m just curious, honest. I mean, like, I know the basics of this ageplay? That’s what it is, right?”

“Yeah,” Niall whispered, starting to pick at his nails.

“Hey,” Harry admonished, “don’t pick at yourself.”

Niall found himself blushing again at Harry’s ever-so-protective behavior. “Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to keep his hands still.

“Niall, I’m not judging you. Just trying to understand,” Harry said. Niall just nodded, so Harry continued. “Do you do this with someone?”

“No,” Niall answered simply.

“Do you want to?” Harry asked, and Niall couldn’t help but feel cornered. Harry was asking so many questions, and even though Niall knew he wasn’t trying to be invasive, he was still a little bit uncomfortable. Niall shrugged in response, knowing exactly what he wanted, but not wanting to tell Harry. “Is this a sexual thing?”

“No!” Niall exclaimed, his cheeks heating up again, and god, they might as well have just stayed red because he was never going to stop being embarrassed as long as Harry was asking questions.

“No to the first or second question?” Harry asked, putting a finger under Niall’s chin to force him to look at him.

“The second one,” Niall mumbled, and Harry considered it a victory. He’d just given Niall the option to say no to both, and he hadn’t.

“So you do want to do this with someone?” Harry asked to clarify. Niall didn’t respond, instead choosing to look at the wall behind Harry’s head. “Niall, I thought we were talking about this,” Harry sighed.

“Yes,” Niall blurted out. “I want to, but everyone will think I’m weird, and I didn’t want you to know, because I like you, but I sort of trust you, and it scares me, and Louis doesn’t even know about this, and really, you can leave if you want. You ever have to see me again-”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Harry hushed him. Niall took a deep breath to calm himself before looking into Harry’s eyes again. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Niall choked out, and suddenly all of the tears came flooding out. Harry held in a coo and pulled Niall tight against his chest.

“Then I won’t leave,” Harry said simply. He kissed the top of Niall’s head cautiously, feeling a sudden rush of need to take care of him. He knew he’d always been oddly protective. It probably came from living with two women his entire life. The more Harry thought about it, the more he wanted to be this for Niall, the more curious he was about what Niall actually wanted and needed. Because, no, it wasn’t normal, but what was in this world anyway? And all Harry could think about was sweet, little, bashful Niall and holding him and taking care of him, and it made Harry feel weird. But it was a good weird.

Niall just accepted Harry’s embrace. He shut his eyes and fought the urge to cuddle further into Harry. He stopped thinking for a minute and allowed himself to slip into his headspace. He’d never done that before around anyone, and Niall felt a bit reckless letting that part of him slip away, even if he did have control over it in a way. It wasn’t until very recently that Niall had even considered the idea of having a Daddy, and now here was Harry asking all these questions and leading him on, and it honestly scared Niall. Harry just told him he wasn’t going to leave, but what was stopping him other than that? As far as Niall knew, Harry might go blab to the entire campus about his little secret.

“What’s going through that head of yours right now, hmm?” Harry asked him, loosening his grip on Niall.

“Lots,” Niall sniffled.

That’s when Harry started to freak out a little. He’d read up on this a little bit after feeling Niall’s nappy at the restaurant. He had changed far too many diapers to not have known what it was when he felt it through Niall’s pants, and he was immediately curious. So, he found in his apartment on his laptop at midnight, searching ABDL and ageplay and infantalism. He guessed that was why he wasn’t as freaked out was what Niall probably expected him to be when he found him. But now, Harry was actually freaking out. Because what if Niall was actually Little Niall right now? What was Harry supposed to do?

And in that moment, Harry did the only thing that seemed right. He couldn’t stop himself, he had to know.

“Do you want me to be your Daddy?”

Niall looked up at him with wide eyes. He was immediately snapped back to reality. He scrambled out of Harry’s arms and looked at him suspiciously. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Harry said easily. “Obviously there’s some details to work out, like if you want to come live with me or if you want me to move in here, or-”

Niall cut him off. “Can we slow down a little?” He asked.

“Of course,” Harry said, looking concerned. Niall took a shaky breath to steady himself before speaking again.

“What all is this going to include?” Niall asked slowly, not believing that he was actually considering going through with this. Harry wasn’t a stranger, but he certainly didn’t know him well enough to be thinking about this.

“Whatever you want,” Harry said. “I can get whatever you want or need or might not have.”

And it sounded so nice. And all Niall wanted to do was fling himself into Harry’s arms and call him Daddy and let that be that, but he just couldn’t.

“Really?” Niall whispered, wanting to agree so badly.

“Really,” Harry confirmed. “I’d love to do this with you,” Harry said, stroking his cheek.

“You’re not gonna freak out and leave?” Niall asked as he started to get choked up. He couldn’t help but get emotional.

“I definitely won’t leave,” Harry assured him.

“And we can go a little slow?”

“As slow as you want, babe,” Harry smiled softly at him.

Niall’s heart fluttered at the little pet name, and yes, he could definitely get used to this. He was having trouble comprehending Harry and all his complexities and his sympathetic and caring nature and his willingness to try to understand. It was all too much and it was all hitting Niall at once.

“Yes,” Niall finally answered the question. He looked shocked as he did it, like his mouth was saying things before his brain could really react.

Harry’s smile grew as he looked fondly at Niall. Like Niall, he was having trouble understanding him. He was so adorable and fragile and, now, his baby. Harry was having difficulty in wrapping his head around the fact that he didn’t even know he really wanted this until he met Niall. Even without feeling his nappy, he would have felt the overwhelming urge to just love him, and more than that, take care of him. He was all cute blushes and shy smiles and nervous fidgeting and Harry found it all incredibly endearing.

“So where do we start?” He asked Niall, brushing a little bit of his hair out of his eyes.

“I don’t know,” Niall mumbled shyly.

“Well what do you usually do? When you’re home alone or watching a movie by yourself or going to bed?” Harry questioned him.

“I get my dummy and blanket,” Niall said, biting his lip and blushing redder than ever before.

“Why don’t you go get them while I start a movie, love?” Harry asked him softly. He was trying to be as gentle as possible with the boy. He didn’t want to come across as too much or do anything Niall wasn’t comfortable with yet.

Niall just nodded before standing up to go retrieve the items. Harry smiled as he watched him go and put the movie in that he’d picked out for them to watch before all of this happened. They were going to watch Despicable Me because Harry was always a sucker for animated movies, and apparently so was Niall considering most of his movies were animated kids movies. Whether it was little or big Niall that liked the movies was the question, but Harry supposed he would find out soon enough.

Niall stumbled back into the room a few minutes later looking all doe-eyed and soft as he’d changed into his pajamas and brushed his hair down. He had his dummy in one hand and his blanket clutched in the other as he stared at Harry from the entrance to the living room. Harry couldn’t help himself; he cooed at the boy and patted the spot next to him on the couch in invitation.

“Come sit, Ni,” Harry said. Niall slowly walked over to him and sat down a few inches away. Harry let him be, wanting him to be as comfortable as possible. He gently pried the dummy out of Niall’s hand and poked his lips with it. After a few moments, Niall opened his mouth to accept it and seemed to relax a little more as he leaned back into the couch. Harry pushed the play button on the remote, and watched as Niall’s eyes lit up once he saw what movie it was.

“Love the minions!” Niall said around his dummy.

“So do I,” Harry said fondly. Niall looked at him as if he forgot that he was there and then nodded slowly in agreement.

About a quarter of the way through the movie, Niall had scooted himself so the he was right next to Harry. Not much later, he was basically in Harry’s lap and resting his head on Harry’s shoulder. By the time the movie was almost over, Niall was fully asleep on Harry’s lap. Harry smiled down at him and decided to put Niall to bed. He carried him to his room with only some struggle and tucked him, kissing his forehead and staring at him for a moment. He made sure to write Niall a quick note and set it on his night table before quietly leaving the apartment with a smile on his face.

It wasn’t perfect, but like Niall said before, hardly anything ever was.


	5. Chapter Five

“I told you so, Horan!” Louis exclaimed as he walked through Niall’s door.

“What did you tell me?” Niall asked, looking up at him from where he was sitting on the couch.

“That everything would be fine when I left you here with Harry,” he said, falling onto the couch next to Niall. “I talked to Harry, actually.”

Niall tensed. “About what?” he asked nervously.

“About how you guys had fun, and how he thinks you’re so cute and how he’ll definitely be back over very soon,” Louis said, waggling his eyebrows at Niall.

Niall blushed bright red. “Yeah, it was fun,” Niall said.

“What can I say? I’m just a damn good matchmaker,” Louis gloated. “You should trust me more often.”

Niall snorted and shook his head. He thought maybe he needed to trust Louis a little less. Louis did know where his spare door key was, and he used it frequently. Niall thought that warranted a vast amount of trust in itself, so he chose to ignore Louis.

“So when is he coming over?” Louis asked.

“I don’t know, Lou,” Niall said. “It’s only been, like, three days.”

Niall knew, however, that in those three days Harry had searched all over the internet and anywhere else looking for things to spoil Niall with. He was taking this all very seriously, and Niall loved it. Harry called him constantly, asking about how he was or telling him about something he’d bought or asking his opinion about two things he was stuck between. Niall had at first insisted on paying for things, but as it turned out, Harry’s entire family was rich, like really rich, and that included Harry. Harry had assured Niall over and over again that he wanted to do this for Niall and spoil him and buy him things to make their arrangement the best it could be, but Niall still felt weird letting him take care of everything financially.

Like clockwork, Niall’s phone was buzzing on the table in front of them. He quickly grabbed it and answered it seeing that it was Harry before Louis could take it.

“Hello?” Niall said into the phone.

“Hi, love,” Harry said cheerfully.

“Hi…” Niall said, looking at Louis.

“Is something wrong?” Harry asked. Usually Niall was talkative and cute on the phone with him.

“No, it’s fine. Louis’ over right now,” Niall said, and Louis raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, okay then,” Harry said. “Listen, I have your room all set up in my guest room, and I really want you to see it because I want to know if you like it, yeah?”

Niall smiled. They had decided that since Niall had a one bedroom apartment, they would be doing everything from Harry’s place. Niall would eventually move in, but right now they were just testing the waters.

“Okay. When do you want me to come?” Niall asked, and Louis grinned before squealing like a schoolgirl. Niall shushed him and waved him off.

“Anytime you want is fine. I’ll be home all day,” Harry said.

“Can you come get me?” Niall asked. “I mean… you know, I don’t want to be like there and then drive,” Niall said awkwardly, hoping that Harry understood.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Harry said. “I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Niall said before they both hung up.

“So Harry’s picking you up? Where are you going? Wait, are you going to his house?” Louis asked without taking a breath.

“Yeah, he’s picking me up and we’re going to his house for a little while. It’s no big deal. But you need to shoo,” Niall said, standing up and opening the front door for Louis.

“I see how it is,” Louis said, taking his time standing up and stopping in front of Niall to talk to him. “You get a new boyfriend, and all of a sudden poor old Louis gets kicked to the curb so you can go be cute together,” Louis pouted jokingly.

Niall rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but blush. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Lou,” Niall said, pushing him out the door.

“I’ll be back,” Louis said over his shoulder as he walked out.

“Trust me, I know,” Niall laughed before shutting the door.

 

 

Harry picked Niall up fifteen minutes later, punctual as ever. They drove the short distance to Harry’s apartment in comfortable silence and occasional small talk. Both of them were too anxious for what was about to happen. When they pulled up to the building, Niall tried to relax as much as possible. He didn’t want to be so wound up that he couldn’t get into his headspace.

“You ready?” Harry asked as he shut off the car.

“Yeah,” Niall smiled lightly before opening the car door and getting out.

Harry led Niall up to his apartment and opened the door when they got there. Niall looked around shocked. Harry’s place was so… posh. So he wasn’t kidding at all when he said they had money. How else would a college kid afford a place like this? And Niall thought he was well off.

“Right, so the guest room, or your, uh, nursery now, is just down this hallway,” Harry said, trying to find the right words.

Niall blushed and nodded as he kicked off his shoes and followed Harry through his apartment. “It’s so clean,” Niall mused.

“I guess I’m a bit of a neat freak,” Harry smiled, stopping and opening a door.

Niall gasped when he saw the room. He walked in slowly to take it all in. The walls were painted a soft green with monkeys and giraffes and other zoo animals painted on the walls. In one corner of the room was a massive crib that was the size of a regular twin mattress, but with crib bars all around it. On it were several stuffed animals that went with the room’s theme. Next to the crib was a rocking chair. Niall smiled at the idea of rocking with Harry.

On the other side of the room was a strange changing table type of thing. Niall had of course looked into things like this before, but seeing them in person was totally different than the pictures on the internet. As he continued to look around the room, he saw a dresser and what looked like a toy chest. He felt so overwhelmed, but in a good way. Seeing all of it excited him so much.

“For me?” Niall asked, turning around to look at Harry.

“Of course it’s for you, silly,” Harry grinned at him. “So you like it?”

“I love it, Daddy!” Niall said, jumping on Harry to hug him. He froze when he realized what he said. He’d never called Harry that before, and they were meant to be taking things slow.

“I’m glad you do,” Harry said, smiling widely over Niall’s head and rubbing his back to let him know that it was alright. Harry led Niall over to the rocking chair and sat in it before pulling Niall into his lap. “We have things to talk about,” Harry said into Niall’s hair. Niall sighed but knew he was right. He sat up a little bit to appear more attentive.

“Thank you for this,” Niall said. “It’s too much, really.”

“How many times have I told you that I want to spoil you?” Harry said, smirking at Niall. “I had fun picking everything out. Although, I have to admit, I’m no artist, so I did not do any of the painting. And I’m no good with my hands, so I had to pay people to put everything together,” Harry chuckled. Niall smiled up at him, not really knowing what to say. He was still a little speechless, which was understandable. “So, until you’re ready, you don’t have to live here by any means. We can work out a schedule for you to come over, or you can just come whenever you want, yeah? I’ll have keys made so that we can lock this room, and I’ll give you one,” Harry said, and Niall nodded.

He couldn’t believe that he’d found someone like Harry who understood and was willing to be patient and work with Niall’s slow transitions into things. Most people would want to rush a little more especially after spending so much money on someone else, but Harry was so easygoing. Niall found himself trusting him more every day. And even though he’d originally said he wanted to wait a while to move in, Niall knew that it would only be a matter of weeks until he caved.

“You just tell me what you want, and we’ll go from there,” Harry said, pulling Niall out of his thoughts. He smiled knowingly and stroked Niall’s cheek.

“What I want?” Niall asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He didn’t quite know what Harry meant.

“If you want more, or less, or whatever,” Harry said kindly.

“Oh. Right now, everything is perfect,” Niall said.

“And we haven’t even started yet,” Harry grinned at him.

 

As it turned out, Harry was not only a neat freak, but he was very organized and structured as well. He and Niall set up a plan for the day which involved playing and taking a nap at some point and eating lunch and everything in between. Niall was of course shy and more than a few times, Harry had to coax him into things. It took about ten minutes of Harry sitting on the floor with Niall to get him to play, but eventually, Niall climbed into Harry’s lap and played with some stuffed animals, giggling as Harry played along and tickled his sides.

After an hour or two, Niall found that he really needed to use the bathroom. Since he’d thought to put a nappy on before he left, it would have been easy to just let go, but now he was sitting on Harry’s lap, and in a compromising situation because, what if Harry didn’t want to change him? Niall just tensed up and gradually stopped playing.

“What’s wrong, babe? Are you bored of this?” Harry asked, noticing how rigid Niall had gone.

“No,” Niall squeaked.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked, hugging Niall around the waist tightly and kissing his cheek. Niall whined when he pressed on his bladder, and it was all over. He started wetting himself right there on Harry’s lap. His face flushed bright red, and Niall swore he’d never been more humiliated in his life. “Oh,” Harry said softly, feeling the warmth in his lap.

“Sorry, I can take care of it,” Niall said, standing up to go change himself, but Harry pulled him back down into his lap.

“What are you sorry for? I knew this was part of it. That’s why there’s that changing table in your room, yeah? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Harry soothed him, standing up with Niall now wrapped around him.

“Okay,” Niall said hesitantly. He continued to hide his face in Harry’s neck the whole way to the new nursery. When they got there, Harry gently laid Niall down on the table and got busy locating everything he would need.

The thing was, everything about Harry was gentle. From the way he removed the wet nappy, to the way he wiped ever so gently around Niall’s unmentionables, to the way that he slid another soft nappy underneath his before powdering him and taping it down across his hips. Niall was embarrassed of course, but Harry made him feel so taken care of, and it felt so right that he couldn’t bring himself to be so embarrassed that he couldn’t take it all in.

“Niall?” Harry said, looking down at him in just his tshirt and nappy. Once Niall looked at him, he continued. “Do you want to get dressed in something more comfortable?”

Niall nodded, curious as to what Harry had in mind. Harry smiled again and went to the dresser to pull out a few things. He came back with a baby onesie, a one piece pajamas, and some sweat pants. He held them all up for Niall before asking him which ones he preferred. Niall blushed again, looking at his choices. He really wanted to wear the comfy one piece because he loved the one that he had at home, but he felt embarrassed. He pointed to the sweats, and Harry asked, “Are you sure?”

“No,” Niall mumbled.

“What do you really want, baby? You can have whatever. I’m offering, remember?” Harry said softly.

“One piece,” Niall said just as softly.

“Long or short?” Harry asked, glad that Niall had actually said what he wanted.

“Long, please,” Niall said, laying back and sighing in relief as Harry nodded and went to put away the other clothes. It was hard to make a choice like that on the spot, and Niall had always been quite indecisive.

Harry came back a few moments later and helped Niall out of his shirt before getting him down and zipping him into the one piece. Niall looked so adorable in the outfit. It was just big enough to be a little too big and still be comfortable. Niall looked happy, and that’s all Harry wanted.


	6. Chapter Six

It only took a few days after the first time Niall had been little over at Harry’s house before he started to miss Harry, like, a lot. They had of course texted and talked on the phone once or twice, but since they were both busy with final exams and everything, they couldn’t get together for very long. It was now Friday, and Niall was waiting for Louis to pick him up to go for their usual Friday night outing with Liam and Zayn. Louis texted Niall to let him know that he was sitting in front of his building, and Niall quickly grabbed his coat and keys before going downstairs to meet Louis.   
“So, how’s Harry?” Louis asked as soon as Niall got in the car.   
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you, Lou?” Niall said sarcastically.   
Louis sighed. “I know you’re fine, Niall. You’ve never been as happy as you are now, and you know it,” Louis pointed out.   
Niall rolled his eyes, but responded to his initial question anyway. “Harry’s good. We’re good, I mean. I had my English and Math exam this week, and Harry had a few as well, so we haven’t seen each other since the last time I went to his house.”  
“You’re no good. I wanted more stories and details,” Louis mock pouted.   
“Sorry my life’s not interesting enough,” Niall said half-jokingly.   
“You should be,” Louis said, pulling into the pizza place and parking next to Zayn’s car. They both walked into the restaurant and quickly sat down in their usual booth.   
“So, how’s Harry?” Zayn asked after they sat down.   
“Not you too,” Niall groaned, and Louis just laughed.   
“Harry’s just more interesting than you,” Louis teased.   
“No, it’s just the first person you’ve been with since high school,” Liam said after Niall gave Louis a dirty look.   
Niall blushed. His dating life was a touchy subject. He hadn’t dated anyone in so long because the last boyfriend he had found out about the “baby thing.” He freaked out, but Niall begged enough for him to promise not to tell anyone. Surprisingly, he’d kept his promise, and as far as Niall knew no one else had found out.   
They all decided to drop the subject, and Niall sighed in relief. His phone vibrated, giving Niall an excuse to look down.   
How about coming over tonight? xx -Harry  
Niall smiled widely and quickly tapped out an answer.   
Love to. :) Be there after dinner :)   
He put his phone down, but picked it up again when Harry texted back.   
I can’t wait to see you. :)   
“Who are you texting?” Louis asked, leaning over to look at Niall’s phone when he saw him smiling down at it. “It’s Harry!” Louis shared with the other boys, quickly snatching the phone from Niall’s phone. Niall paled and desperately tried getting the phone back from Louis, knowing that there were more secret details of their “relationship” in the text messages.   
“Louis, seriously give it back,” Niall whined, reaching around Louis again as he continued to scroll through the messages.   
“Aw, you’re going over tonight. How sweet,” Louis grinned evilly.   
“Louis, stop torturing him,” Zayn laughed.   
“I’m counting down the seconds till I see your sexy face, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss,” Louis narrated the text he was sending to Harry as Niall blushed furiously.   
“Louis, seriously,” Niall said, holding out his hand expectantly.   
“You’re no fun,” Louis grinned, putting the phone in Niall’s hand after sending the message. Niall grumbled and quickly texted Harry, explaining that it was Louis that had sent the last text.   
The rest of dinner passed more uneventfully, much to Niall’s relief. After Liam paid, they headed their separate ways for the week. Niall climbed into Louis’ car and waited, dreading the fact that he had to ask Louis to drop him off at Harry’s. Louis finally got in the car and started it, beginning to turn out of the parking lot like he was going back to Niall’s.   
“Uh, Louis,” Niall interrupted.   
Louis looked at him. “Yeah?”  
“Can you, uh, take me to Harry’s?” Niall asked. He was thankful that it was dark enough that Louis couldn’t see how red his cheeks were, but there was no missing the wide, mischievous grin on Louis’ face as he quickly switched the turn signal the other way.   
“Of course, Niall,” Louis said happily.   
Niall turned up the radio so that Louis didn’t have an opportunity to say anything else, but he could still see Louis’ smirk. He tried to ignore him and relax before he got to Harry’s. He wanted to be able to slip into his headspace as soon as possible once he got there. It had been too long in his mind since he’d been little. He hadn’t been able to relax as much as he needed to at night because school had him stressed, and he couldn’t seem to shut his mind off. He just couldn’t wait to be with Harry so that he could finally relax and not have to worry about anything. He texted Harry to let him know that he was just down the street, and looked back out the window as the complex came into view.   
Louis pulled in the lot and up to the door. “Have fun, Niall,” Louis called obnoxiously as Niall got out of the car.   
“Thanks, Lou,” Nial smiled a little, already feeling calmer. If this were an hour ago he would’ve rolled his eyes at Louis, but now he felt much better just standing in front of Harry’s building. He shut the car door behind him and walked into the apartment building, walking straight to the elevators and hitting the floor number. He got to Harry’s place quickly from there. He knocked on the door and stood impatiently outside, wishing Harry would hurry. He could feel himself slipping a little bit, but he fought the urge for a while longer.   
“Hey, babe,” Harry said when he opened the door.   
And with that, Niall was done. He walked in and hugged Harry, laying his head on his chest and sighing as Harry’s arms came around him. Harry kissed the top of his head and shut the door behind them, walking Niall over to the couch. He sat down and put Niall in his lap, smiling at him.   
“How are you?” Harry asked, brushing Niall’s hair off his forehead.   
“Better now,” Niall mumbled, putting his face back into Harry’s chest.   
“Good,” Harry said. “How about we get you changed, hmm?”   
“Yeah,” Niall said, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck. Harry smiled and stood with Niall in his arms to head towards the nursery. He laid Niall on the changing table once they got there, sticking his finger in the side of Niall’s diaper, making him squirm and whine.   
“Don’t need changed,” Niall whined.   
“Okay, just checking, Ni,” Harry said, going to the dresser to get out the pajamas Niall had worn last time. He dressed Niall in them and picked him back up with a little less struggle. He was starting to the the hang of it now.   
“What do you want to do? Are you tired?” Harry asked, looking at the clock. It was well past 9:00, and he knew Niall’d had a long week as it was.   
“Not sleepy. Wanna stay up with you,” Niall said, biting back a yawn and hoping Harry hadn’t noticed. But, of course, Harry did, though he didn’t let on. He just walked toward the kitchen and pulled a bottle of milk that he’d thought to make earlier out of the fridge.   
“Cold or warm milk, love?” Harry asked the tired boy in his arms.   
“Warm,” Niall mumbled, fighting to keep his eyes open.   
Harry put it in the microwave for a little bit and pulled it out when the timer went off. Niall jumped a little in Harry’s arms when the microwave beeped as he had started to fall asleep. Harry shook the bottle as he walked them both back to the couch. He sat down and adjusted Niall on his lap, slipping the bottle into his mouth. Harry allowed himself to relax for the first time that week as well. He watched Niall fight the drowsiness as he drank down the bottle of milk. Harry sighed when it was all gone and Niall was still refusing to sleep. He could see how tired he was and he knew Niall had just as long of a week as he had.   
“Why won’t you sleep, babe?” Harry asked him.   
“Not tired,” Niall said stubbornly.   
“I know you are,” Harry said gently. “Do you want to watch a movie or read a story until you fall asleep?” Harry asked, knowing that either would put Niall to sleep in minutes.   
“Watch a movie,” Niall said, and Harry stood up to put in some random animated movie he had for whenever he babysat his friend’s kid. Niall smiled when he saw it was The Lion King. Harry sat back down, and Niall immediately cuddled up against him. Harry waited patiently for Niall to fall asleep, and he almost did a few times before shaking himself awake. As it neared 11:00, and the movie was almost over, Harry tried again.   
“Why won’t you just go to sleep, baby?” Harry asked again.   
“I want to stay up,” Niall pouted, getting grouchy from how tired he was. He didn’t know why Harry didn’t understand that he didn’t want to go to sleep; he wanted to stay up with Harry because he had missed him.   
“But why? I know you’re sleepy,” Harry said as gently as he could.   
What he wasn’t prepared for was Niall to burst into tears. “Want to stay up,” Niall cried, moving away from Harry and throwing himself back against the couch. “Don’t wanna sleep, miss Daddy,” Niall sobbed into his knees.   
Harry looked at him in shock for a moment. He didn’t know what to do or say, and he was panicking a little. He wasn’t expecting Niall to have a complete meltdown. Everything seemed to click in his mind, however, when he registered that Niall said that he’d missed him. It made sense that Niall wanted to stay up with him as long as possible.   
“Okay, shh, Niall, calm down,” Harry cooed, moving toward him. “I missed you, too, love. But we have all day tomorrow, yeah?” Harry said, rocking Niall in his lap. “We have all day to have fun. And I don’t want you being too tired to have fun with me,” Harry continued as Niall calmed down.   
“Kay,” Niall sniffled, moving so that he was straddling Harry’s legs with his arms around his neck and his face in Harry’s neck.   
“Okay,” Harry repeated. “Are you ready to go to bed now?” Harry asked, standing up before he answered. Niall nodded into his neck, feeling much better about everything. He was glad that Harry was planning on letting him stay tomorrow as well.   
Harry carried him into his nursery and laid him down in the crib. Niall finally allowed his eyes to start to close, and Harry sat on the bed next to him, rubbing his stomach and occasionally stroking his hair until he was sure Niall was asleep.   
Harry sighed, but smiled at Niall.

He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he loved it anyway.


	7. Chapter Seven

"Niall?" Harry called as he entered the nursery the next day. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the crib was empty, and he quickly spun around the room, trying not to panic. He sighed in relief when he heard quiet giggles coming from the closet. He smirked to himself before playing along. "Oh, no! Where has my baby gone?" Harry said dramatically.   
He made a big deal of opening all of the doors to the cabinets and drawers, letting out loud sighs when he came up empty each time. “I’ve lost my Niall! Whatever am I going to do!” Harry exclaimed with fake exasperation.   
“I’m right here, Daddy!” Niall giggled, opening the closet door slightly and looking out of it through the crack.   
“Thank god!” Harry smiled, going to lift him up and spin him around. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you,” he said, kissing Niall’s nose as he laid him down on the changing table. “How about next time you just call for Daddy next time you want out of your crib, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt climbing out, yeah?” Harry said, not wanting to be too strict, but also not wanting Niall to think it was okay to get out of his crib by himself.   
Niall nodded, and Harry tickled his stomach before getting out everything he needed.   
Niall laughed, and Harry was quick to change him while he was otherwise occupied. He kissed his stomach above the new nappy before pulling out some pants and a shirt from the bag Niall brought.   
“This okay?” Harry asked, holding up the outfit.   
Niall looked up from his fingers to nod at Harry. Harry smiled at him before quickly dressing him. Once he was done, Niall sat up and held his hands out.   
“Yeah, yeah, I can carry you, I suppose,” Harry teased. He picked Niall up, adjusting him on his hip before walking out of the room toward the kitchen. He was glad that every time he picked Niall up it seemed to get easier. “What do you want to do today?”  
“You said I could stay all day,” Niall said, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck tightly, concern in his voice.   
“And you can, babe,” Harry assured him as they arrived in the kitchen. “Just asking what you wanted to do for our day together,” Harry said, setting him down on a chair at the table.  
“Can we make pancakes?” Niall asked, already scrambling out of his chat to follow Harry to the cabinets.   
“Of course,” Harry said, pulling the pancake mix out of the cupboard.   
“Can I help?” Niall asked with wide eyes.   
“Yes, Ni,” Harry smiled, getting out the skillet and heating up the stove. He helped Niall get out all the ingredients and stir them together. He planned on not allowing Niall to go near the hot stove, but he gave in the the first time Niall asked if he could flip a pancake with the biggest smile Harry had ever seen him with. He coached him on when the best time would be to flip the pancake and Niall clapped with joy every time he flipped one over. Once they were all finished, Harry told Niall to sit at the table so that he could finish and clean up. Niall did as he was told, and they talked about what they were going to do for the rest of the day.   
“I want to color and then we can put the new Lego set together and then watch a movie and then…” Harry smiled and nodded along while Niall continued to talk about what all he wanted to do.   
He put both plates of pancakes down on the table and watched as Niall dumped what was probably way too much syrup on his breakfast, but Harry didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. He didn’t know when this all got so easy; it seemed like just yesterday when he met Niall, and now here they were, eating pancakes and having this relationship that wasn’t really a relationship and being so comfortable around each other. Harry had never been a judgemental person, and he was more thankful for his open-minded nature than he ever had been before. Most people would have never agreed to something like this, and if they did, they probably wouldn’t have adjusted to or accepted the role as quickly as Harry had. He always knew he was great with kids, but he didn’t know that this was where it would get him.   
“Daddy, I’m done,” Niall said, looking at Harry expectantly.   
“Alright, babe. You can put your plate in the sink and go pick out a movie to watch, okay?” Harry said, standing up to do the dishes.   
“Okay!” Niall said, dropping his plate in the sink and going to the living room. Harry quickly did the dishes and entered the living room to find Niall staring down at two different movies in his hands.   
“What do you have, love?” Harry asked, sitting down next to Niall.   
“I can’t decide between Frozen and The Lion King,” Niall pouted.   
“Ooh, an old classic and a new classic. How are you going to choose?” Harry asked, pulling Niall into his lap.   
“I think The Lion King. I just saw Frozen,” Niall said after a moment of thought.   
Harry nodded and got up to put the movie into the DVD player before sitting back down and pulling Niall into his side. They watched the entire movie before Harry felt Niall starting to squirm. He rubbed Niall’s back, and when the movie was officially over, Niall turned his face into Harry’s neck.   
“I need changed,” he mumbled, refusing to look up at Harry.   
“Okay,” Harry said, picking Niall up and heading to the nursery. “Thanks for telling me instead of making me guess,” Harry grinned, laying Niall down on the table.   
Niall blushed, but didn’t say anything. Harry sighed inwardly and changed Niall as fast as he could to avoid upsetting him. When he was done, he set Niall down and let him grab some of his crayons and coloring books. When Niall insisted that he would most definitely need all of his 120 crayons, though, Harry agreed and even carried the big box for Niall.   
“What are you going to color?” Harry asked as they sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table in the living room.   
“Hmm,” Niall hummed as he looked between the coloring books, “I’ll color the Avengers!”  
Harry smiled at the boy’s excitement and opened the box of crayons for Niall before opening a puppy book for himself to color. He knew Niall would make him color as well, so he figured he’d go ahead and skip the step.   
Niall looked through the coloring book of his choice intently, looking for just the right picture to color. If he wanted this to make it to the fridge it had to be good! So far, Harry hadn’t hung anything on the fridge yet, but Niall was determined to impress Harry enough for him to offer it.   
Truthfully, Harry didn’t know that Niall wanted his drawings on the fridge. Whenever Niall handed him a picture he colored, he would coo at Niall about how good it was before putting in a pile to go in Niall’s “baby” scrapbook. Harry had always been cheesy and artistic like that, and so far the scrapbook was just as cute as he thought it would be, complete with all of Niall’s little drawings and colored pictures.   
Niall concentrated immensely on the coloring page in front of him, tongue in between his teeth and his eyebrows bunched together. Harry smiled at him, knowing how much of a perfectionist Niall was, how much he wanted to impress everyone, make them proud, especially Harry.   
It took almost 20 minutes, but Niall finally finished coloring the picture of Captain America and the Hulk. He admired it for a moment, proud of himself for not coloring outside the lines. He climbed into Harry’s lap, showing him the picture with a hopeful smile on his face.   
“That’s great, Ni. I love it! My little artist, aren’t you?” Harry said, kissing Niall’s forehead before taking the picture and putting it down on the floor next to him for the scrapbook pile. Niall’s face fell as he watched what Harry did with the picture, but he didn’t allow himself to get discouraged. He could definitely make a better picture, so that’s what he would do.   
So, Niall just nodded before getting down from Harry’s lap and picking out another picture to color, this one of Iron Man.   
Harry frowned slightly at Niall’s behavior. Niall usually got bored of coloring after one picture, but today he seemed to have a motive to keep coloring. He shrugged it off, though, assuming that Niall was just in the mood to color instead of play or cuddle or watch a movie like usual. He watched as Niall got that same lookof concentration on his face, this time being very careful to put just the right color in just the right place. Finally, he finished, and he scooted right back into Harry’s lap, his face once again searching for approval.   
“Amazing, baby. I love it,” Harry said sincerely, smiling at Niall. He set it down with the other picture and watched as Niall once again deflated at the action.   
“You don’t like it,” Niall mumbled, looking down and getting off Harry’s lap.   
“What do you mean? I love it, Ni. I love all the pictures you color for me; they’re all so special to me, just like you,” Harry frowned, brushing through Niall’s hair with his long fingers.   
“You put it on the floor,” Niall said dejectedly, playing with his fingers.   
“Aw, babe. You know I put all of them in your book. You’ve seen it before, yeah?” Harry said, feeling a little confused. Niall was so happy the last time Harry showed him the scrapbook, said he didn’t think Harry really cared that much.   
“But,” Niall whimpered before cutting himself off.   
“What is it, baby?” Harry asked, stroking Niall’s cheek to get him to look up. Niall just shook his head, and Harry’s heart broke as a tease slipped down his cheek. “I can’t read your mind, love. Please tell me what’s wrong? I bet I can fix it.”   
“You don’t hang it up,” Niall said, flinching back because he expected Harry to be upset with him because Niall had gotten worked up over something so silly.   
And then it all clicked in Harry’s mind. He had so many pictures of his friends and family hanging up, and there were little things that his niece had made for him all over the apartment, little pieces of everyone he cared about in his life all over, but not one of them was Niall. And he felt so stupid for not realizing it sooner, for not realizing that Niall could see all the pictures and know that he wasn’t in any of them, know that Harry had hidden his life with Niall away into the book. Obviously Harry hadn’t meant any of that, he didn’t intend for Niall to think that he meant less to him just because there was nothing of Niall in the apartment, but Harry should have known that Niall would have thought of it that way.   
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think. Here, let’s go hang both of these on the fridge, yeah? And then we can look through your book to find a picture to frame and put in here. How’s that?” Harry asked once he could speak.   
Niall looked up at him through his wet lashes, blinking a few times at Harry. “Really?” Niall sniffled.   
“Of course, Ni. I think one of the most important people in my life should be up in my apartment don’t you?” Harry asked, standing up and extending a hand to Niall.   
Niall beamed up at Harry before taking his hand and running off to the next room to scope out where to put his pictures on the fridge.   
“I want them right here in the middle, Daddy,” Niall said, bouncing excitedly, all sadness from a few minutes ago washed away.   
“I think that’s an excellent place for them,” Harry said, hanging both pictures up with little farm animal magents. He stepped back with Niall, and kissed the top of his head, realizing that at this point, he would do anything to make Niall happy.


	8. Chapter Eight

Throughout the next couple of weeks, Niall’s belongings slowly filtered their way into Harry’s apartment. He had everyday clothes in some of the drawers Harry had cleared out for him, his shampoo was in Harry’s shower, a couple of his books for class were on the kitchen table, and all but a couple of his comfort items were in the nursery. It was a slow and gradual transition that was hardly noticeable and really just seemed natural. Harry had given Niall a key to his apartment, and now, more often than not, he came home to Niall eating chips on the couch or coloring at the coffee table.  
That was the thing with Niall and Harry – they were comfortable around each other whether Niall was in his headspace or not. Sure, most of the time Niall was over Harry was Daddy, but more recently they had been hanging out as “friends.” And Harry thought that all of this should have been very complicated or confusing, but it just… wasn’t. Everything about being with Niall, little or not, was so natural for both of them. At some point, Harry had even started tagging along for Niall, Louis, Zayn, and Liam’s pizza night.

And Louis was absolutely smug about Niall and Harry. When he’d come barging into Niall’s apartment late one night to find that he wasn’t there, he was curious because Niall was never out very late. When he fell asleep on Niall’s couch only to have Niall never come home, he relentlessly interrogated him about why he hadn’t come home and where he’d been. When Niall finally confessed he had slept at Harry’s house, Louis smirked and raised his eyebrows, not really needing to say anything else. And even though what Louis thought was going on was far from the truth, Niall let him think it because he hoped he would never have to explain what was actually going on.

So now it was a Friday afternoon, and neither Niall nor Harry had a class, so they were cuddled up on Harry’s couch, already dressed to go out with the rest of Niall’s friends for their usual outing. When the TV show they were watching turned to a commercial, Harry’s hand fell to Niall’s head that was in his lap as he ran his fingers through Niall’s hair.

“Niall?” Harry said suddenly.

“Hmm?” Niall hummed in reply.

“What do you think about officially moving in with me?” Harry asked, still stroking Niall’s hair.

Niall tensed a little, but relaxed just as quickly. It was a fair question, all things considered. “I don’t know,” he lied. Honestly, Niall was just terrified of moving too fast. It had really only been about two months, regardless of how much time they spent together. And he was still scared Harry was going to change his mind and think Niall was a freak. He wanted to live with Harry full-time, but it was a big commitment and required a lot of trust on both sides.

“Well, will you think about it? Please?” Harry asked gently, knowing how hesitant Niall was about it.

“Yeah,” Niall answered. Truthfully, it was almost all he’d thought about the last couple days. He’d stayed at home one night when he had an early morning class and was frustrated when he realized almost all of his things were at Harry’s. Ever since then, he had been seriously considering the idea. Especially because he felt bad that his parents were still paying for an apartment he barely lived in.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to, Ni,” Harry said, pulling Niall from his thoughts. “I just wanted to remind you that the option is always available. Especially now that so much of your stuff is here,” Harry chuckled lightly.

“I know,” Niall said, averting his attention back to the TV.

Harry inwardly sighed and reached for his phone that was on the table in front of them to check the time. “We better get going if we want to get there on time,” Harry told blonde boy in his lap.

“Okay,” Niall said, stretching out across the couch before standing up to get his shoes on. When he was done, he stood by the door waiting for Harry.

Harry smiled at him as he approached him. “Ready to go?” he asked, holding out his hand for Niall to take.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Niall said, grinning as he slid his hand into Harry’s.

That was one thing that Harry wished they could maybe talk about – what that side of their relationship even was. But in usual Niall and Harry style, they just let everything work itself out.

Harry locked the door behind them and they walked to Harry’s car that was parked in front of the complex. They rode to the usual restaurant in a comfortable silence as the radio softly played and Harry hummed along, running his thumb over the back of Niall’s hand.

They arrived at the restaurant after Liam and Zayn but before Louis, who was always late anyway. They sat down on the opposite side of the booth from Liam and Zayn, forcing Louis to sit in the chair that had been pulled up for a fifth person. They kept up small talk for a few minutes before Louis finally arrived.

“Oh, Harry. What a nice surprise to see you here!” Louis said, ignoring everyone else as he pulled out the chair at the end to sit in.

“You too, Lou,” Harry said, shaking his head as Louis smirked at Niall.

The rest of the evening went on without a hitch. Louis was there right in the middle to keep the conversation going as well as making Harry more comfortable around Liam and Zayn as he knew all of them very well. They all argued about who’s turn it was to pay the bill (typical) before coming to the conclusion that it was Louis’ turn, but when Louis refused, Zayn offered to do it (also typical).

“So Niall,” Louis said, kicking Niall’s leg under the table when Harry got up to go to the bathroom. Once he had Niall’s attention, he continued. “How are things then?” he asked innocently.

“Good. School is going well and all,” Niall said, purposely avoiding the question he knew Louis was really asking.

“Mhm. Surprised you’re able to study after moving in with Harry,” Louis said casually.

Niall blushed bright red because Louis had it all wrong. He was sleeping better than ever and was relaxed enough that he could focus through his studies better. Of course, to Louis, Niall’s blushing just made him think he was right.

“Wait… you moved in with Harry?” Liam sputtered. “It’s only been a month of two.”

“I didn’t move in with him!” Niall said defensively, feeling the blush on his cheeks move down to his neck. “Or I haven’t yet at least,” he mumbled.

“Oh, Niall. You forget how often I’m at your apartment. You haven’t been home for weeks,” Louis said matter-of-factly.

“So I stay over at his place sometimes. Doesn’t mean we’re sleeping together,” Niall shrugged, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was.

“Oh, really?” Zayn butted in, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes, really!” Niall said. “Now he’s coming back, so shut up,” Niall said, crossing his arms and sitting back.

As soon as Harry sat down, the waiter was back over, bringing Zayn his credit card back. Meanwhile, Niall sat thinking about how much his reasonable friends seemed to disagree with Niall living with Harry. To Niall, the two months he and Harry had been doing this felt like a lifetime, but to everyone else looking in, they looked like idiots that were moving too fast. He tried not to talk himself out of it anymore as he walked back out to Harry’s car with him, trying to remind himself that there were far more good things than bad things about living with Harry. He could always have Harry around to be Daddy or Harry, and they could more easily function in their age play relationship and grow more in their… other relationship.

Niall took a deep breath and realized that wherever they were headed wasn’t home. Harry picked up their intertwined hands and kissed the back of Niall’s soothingly.

“What are you thinking about, love?” Harry asked. Niall’s breath hitched as Harry called him a pet name that was usually reserved for when Niall was little.

“Nothing really. Where are we going?” Niall asked, changing the subject quickly.

“I just wanted to show you this park near my apartment. We can go home instead if you want,” Harry offered.

Niall’s heart fluttered at the idea of Harry’s place being home. “No, it’s fine. Whatever you want to do.”

It turned out the park Harry was talking about was really just about five minutes away from his apartment complex. There was a small playground on one end and a trail surrounded by trees all the way around a field of grass.

"It’s never busy here," Harry said as he shut off the car. "I love coming here to study or just sit. It’s really pretty this time of year.”

Both of them got out of the car and met in front of it, walking beside each other on the concrete path. They walked, and Harry pointed out his favorite parts and places to sit. They eventually came to a bridge at the very back of the park that Harry stopped at and leaned against the railing.

“I think this is by far my favorite part,” Harry said, smiling down at the creek below them.

“How’d you find this place?” Niall asked, leaning next to him.

“Just wandering around one day I guess,” he shrugged, smiling at Niall now.

“It is really nice. Even at night,” Niall said, laying his head on Harry’s shoulder as he started to go home.

“Yeah. I didn’t know how much you were familiar with on this side of town,” Harry said, wrapping his arm around Niall’s waist.

“Well thanks for showing me. It’s beautiful,” Niall said, looking up at Harry.

And before Niall even knew what was happening, Harry was kissing him. And it wasn’t a weird, awkward first kiss. It was comfortable and sweet and natural. And even though it really wasn’t that long, Niall was still quietly gasping by the end.

“Sorry. Was that too much? I’m sorry,” Harry said, standing up.

Niall just shook his head. “It was perfect,” he mumbled, a little embarrassed. Harry smiled at him, and Niall continued. “I think I want to go home.”

Harry’s face fell a bit before he recovered. “Okay, that’s fine. I can take you home.”

“No, I mean your home. Or our home, I guess,” Niall said, thankful for the darkness so that Harry couldn’t see how red his cheeks were.

Harry beamed and hugged Niall. “So you’re moving in then? Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Niall nodded.

“I love you. Every part of you,” Harry said, kissing Niall’s nose.

“I love you, too,” Niall said nervously.

And to anyone else, Harry’s statement would have been cheesy, but to Niall, it was everything he needed to hear; knowing that Harry not only loved Niall as he was now, but also as his baby, was the biggest relief. And he would never get tired of Harry telling him that he loved him.


	9. Chapter 9

The moving process was so long. 

Even though many of Niall’s things were already at Harry’s house, it just felt like so much. Niall told his parents about his decision to move first, and while his mother was concerned and anxious to meet Harry, who neither of them had ever even heard about except off-handedly, his father just shrugged at the news and told Niall he needed to have his things out before the end of the month so that they could pay the last of the rent and it could be rented out to someone else. Niall, being an otherwise-occupied college student with a new boyfriend, neglected getting all of his things moved out of the apartment and was now running around to get things packed away before he was kicked out officially. 

“Niall, look at this old picture I found of us!” Louis exclaimed, running into Niall’s room. Niall sighed and looked up from the box he was packing to Louis waving some ancient photo of them from grade school. He had forced Louis to pack up the living room, away from any possible baby things that might still be around the apartment. He clearly wasn’t much help and was more interested in digging through Niall’s stuff than just throwing it in boxes. Niall just couldn’t wait until Louis had to go to football practice and Harry was out of class to help him finish up. 

“Wow, Lou,” Niall feigned interest. “So is the living room done, then?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Louis. 

Louis snorted. “There’s not much to do in there unless you want me to pack up the TV. I could always pack up the kitchen instead…”

“No!” Niall cut him off. He knew for a fact that there were still bottles and sippy cups hidden toward the back of the cupboards. He back tracked when Louis gave him a weird look. “I mean… I told Harry he could do all that stuff so that he could put things where he wants them.”

Louis shrugged at Niall’s excuse. “Whatever, less for me to do.” He looked down at his watch, then back at Niall. “I need to get going anyway. I’ve got practice in half an hour,” he said, heading out of Niall’s bedroom. “Oh!” Louis exclaimed, stopping himself in the doorway, “Try not to have too much fun your first official night at Harry’s. Wouldn’t want any complaints about noise and that so early,” he said, winking and dodging the shoe Niall threw at his head. Niall could still hear Louis laughing at his own humor as he walked out of the front door. 

Niall sighed in relief and slumped against his bed in relief that his friend was gone. He got the rest of his shoes packed away before he heard the front door open. He smiled and kicked a box out of the way so that he could go greet Harry. He found Harry picking up the small scrapbook Niall had that Louis had apparently gotten out and flipping through it as he walked back to Niall’s room. 

“Ugh, you’re just as bad as Louis,” Niall groaned, snatching the book from Harry’s hands. 

“Hey, I was looking at that!” Harry grinned. “You and Louis were adorable.”

“Hmm, still am,” Niall said cheekily. Harry smiled at Niall and hugged him before pecking him on the lips. Niall turned and walked back to his room while Harry followed him. 

“All these boxes just need to go to your place, and I have movers coming to take my furniture to a storage unit tomorrow afternoon. I still need to pack up the kitchen, but I just want to go home tonight,” Niall said, gesturing to things as he talked about them.

Harry smiled at Niall calling his apartment “home,” but he could tell Niall was ready to slip into his headspace. He hadn’t been able to be Harry’s baby for a few days because of school and packing and their clashing schedules, and they had both been looking forward to tonight. 

“Okay, love. Let’s just each grab a few boxes to take to the car and we’ll call it a day, yeah?” Harry said, bending down to pick up two of the boxes on Niall’s floor while Niall nodded and did the same. They made two trips and piled the boxes into Harry’s trunk and backseat before they both got in the car. Niall leaned back in his seat as Harry turned up the radio a bit while they drove. 

The drive to Harry’s flat seemed shorter than usual, probably because Niall was so focused on keeping his eyes open and his mind focused. When they parked in front of Harry’s flat, Niall immediately got out of the car, rubbing at his eyes as he walked around to the trunk. Harry met him there, taking the majority of the boxes and leaving Niall only two so that they would only need to make one trip. He set down the boxes at the front door so that he could unlock it as Niall leaned against the wall and shut his eyes again.

“Come on, love. Let’s go inside,” Harry said gently after he’d opened the door. Niall nodded and stepped through the door as Harry followed after him, locking the door behind himself. Niall. Niall all but dropped his boxes in the living room before turning around to pout in Harry’s direction. Harry had opted to take his boxes into the dining room so that they were out of the way, but he could move Niall’s later when he was asleep in bed like he needed to be. 

Harry couldn’t help but smile at Niall’s adorably pathetic face and overall demeanor. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, his lower lip was stuck out in the most cliché way, his eyes were filled with unhappy tears, and his foot was kicking restlessly into the ground. Harry easily walked toward him and placed his huge hands on either side of Niall’s face. He kissed in between Niall’s eyebrows, and immediately all of the tension in Niall’s body rushed out of him. Niall sagged into Harry’s chest and allowed the few unshed tears to spill out onto Harry’s shirt. 

“I know, baby,” Harry cooed, running his hands through Niall’s hair lightly to take the style out of it. He loved when Niall’s hair was flat and soft and fell into his eyes a little bit; it just made him that much cuter. He eventually moved his hands down to Niall’s back and then to his legs so that he could lift Niall up. 

Niall whined when Harry hoisted him up, but didn’t object any further. He just laid his head on Harry’s shoulder and allowed Harry to carry him into his nursery. It had been so long since he had been able to do this, and now that he knew it could happen so much more because he was living with Harry, he was ecstatic. But for now, he was just so relaxed and pliant. He had missed Harry taking care of him and being gentle like this. Harry was always different, but when Niall was his baby, everything was just different. 

Niall closed his eyes tightly when Harry laid him down on the changing table and flipped on the lamp next to it. “Bright, Daddy,” he complained, rubbing his fists against his eyes again. Harry smiled a little at being assured that Niall was definitely well into his headspace. 

“I’m sorry, babe. Let Daddy get you changed for bed really quick, okay?” Harry said, already sliding Niall’s jeans down his legs before giving him a chance to answer. 

“’Kay,” Niall mumbled, moving his thumb to nudge against his lips. Harry quickly opened the drawer under the changing table and slid a dummy in between Niall’s lips instead. Niall immediately began sucking on it, and Harry sighed before going to the dresser and pulling out Niall’s favorite sleeper. He slid a nappy underneath Niall and powdered him quickly before working the pajamas up Niall’s legs and poking his arms through the holes for the mostly-unconscious boy. 

Right as Harry was ready to put Niall in his crib for the night, the boy whined again. “Daddy, want to cuddle more.”

“Okay, my love. How could I ever deny cuddles from such a sweet boy?” Harry asked, kissing Niall’s nose. He felt so much freer to act like this with Niall now that it wasn’t just a vague thing hanging over his head. Now Niall was (mostly) officially moved in and they had a steady two-sided relationship, and he felt pretty confident that Niall wouldn’t be backing out on this. Harry hoped that Niall felt the same way about him and trusted Harry a bit more not to run away from anything. 

“Do you want a bottle, Ni?” Harry asked before he had the chance to sit down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. 

“Yeah. Milk,” Niall said before going back to sucking on his dummy. Normally Harry would remind him or prompt him to say “please,” but tonight, Niall was just so obviously wrecked and cute that Harry couldn’t bring himself to care. So, Harry took out an already-made bottle of milk from the fridge. He’d had a feeling he would be needing them on-hand like this more now.

“Warm or not?” Harry asked into Niall’s ear, propping Niall up further on his hip as he began to slide a bit.

“Hmm. Warm,” Niall hummed. 

Harry nodded and stuck the bottle in the microwave before taking it out and shaking it all the way down the hallway and into the nursery. He sighed and relaxed as he sat down in the rocking chair, finally having his mind on only Niall. Whether Niall realized it or not, this was just as enjoyable and good for Harry as it was for him. Harry found himself more relaxed and generally happier when he was Niall’s Daddy. He obviously still had responsibilities, but when they were like this, Niall was his main focus, and he was really able to take care of him the way he wanted to. 

Niall arranged himself lazily until he was comfortably lounging in Harry’s lap. He yanked the blanket from the back of the chair and covered himself, and subsequently Harry, with it before removing his dummy and opening his mouth expectantly for the bottle. 

“You comfy yet, cuddle bug?” Harry grinned, holding the bottle above Niall’s mouth to tease him just a bit. 

“Yes,” Niall huffed, leaning up a bit to latch onto the bottle. He sucked at it leisurely, keeping his eyes closed for most of the time, save for the times he was making eye contact with Harry. It scared him sometimes to see the way Harry looked at him; the way he looked at him with adoration and care wasn’t like anything Niall had ever known before. He found himself getting lost in Harry’s eyes whether he was big or little because Harry always looked at him in the same way, just a little differently in both situations. 

Finally, Niall finished the bottle, and he was even more exhausted than before somehow. He released it form between his lips and sighed into Harry’s chest. “You ready to go to bed now, baby?” Harry asked softly. 

“Yeah,” Niall mumbled. Harry smiled and lifted Niall up again to put him in his crib. “Wait,” Niall said as Harry was getting ready to lay him down. 

“Yes, Ni?” Harry grinned, feeling a little bit of déjà vu. 

“Can I sleep with you tonight, Daddy?” Niall asked, looking up at Harry through his eyelashes so innocently that Harry couldn’t say no. 

So he didn’t. 

He smiled again and carried Niall across the hall into his bedroom. He laid Niall in the bed before turning back around to get Niall’s blanket from the crib. He slid his dummy back between his lips and kissed his cheek before getting into bed next to Niall for the first time. 

“My cuddle bug just needed even more cuddles tonight, yeah?” Harry murmured to him.

“Yeah,” Niall sighed, finally falling asleep against Harry’s chest.


End file.
